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Changing It Up for Fun

After a week off from traveling to see friends and family in LA, my running training took a hit. Training in LA wasn’t an option as most of the time was spent with family and friends. While it was fun to see friends/family, I really did miss running. When I got back from LA, it felt so awesome to run 5K!

I definitely was looking forward to the long run over the holiday weekend although I was a little concern about how much in shape I was after missing last week’s long run. So I decided to take the long run to somewhere I haven’t ran before. After seeing my friends in LA area who lived near the beach, I loved the ideas of running along the coast. I drove 45 minutes to Santa Cruz, the nearest beach/coast to me.

Oh, it was SO worth it!

I started at Natural Bridge’s Beach along Cliff Drive on the Santa Cruz’s coast. My plan was to run all the way to Santa Cruz Boardwalk and back. My recent longest run was 8 miles and my plan had been to equalled the same distance. I wasn’t really sure if the out-and-back would make 8 miles but it looked close enough on the map.

The view/scenery made the first few miles very easily passable. The day was perfect with sun out and there were beach strollers out and about along with surfers in the ocean. What a nice day~

The lack of training definitely started to creep up on the way back. By 6.5 mile and the final mile, I had slowed to a walk because my knee was acting up. I started feeling the pull from the calf. I did not want to risk injury so I decided to walk. In the end, I put in 7.5 miles, not entirely close to my original plan of 8 miles but it was an honest effort. And the view was so worth it!

I definitely want to return to this route again and run further the next time. It is absolutely gorgeous~ Sometimes, changing up the routine can be so much fun and motivating!